Eli Tomac has won three races in a row for the first time in his career.

Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, made its annual visit to “Circle City” on Saturday night, March 18, with the 11th round of the 2017 season. A crowd of 60,216 was on hand inside Lucas Oil Stadium and cheered on Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac to his third straight 450SX-class victory, and his sixth win of the season.

In the Eastern Regional 250SX class, the championship leader, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider Zach Osborne, raced to his third win in four races to add to his points lead.

The 450SX-class main event began with RMATV/ MC-WPS-KTM’s Blake Baggett racing to the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot, over Tomac and Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ryan Dungey, the defending champion and points leader. Dungey seized the opportunity to move past his championship rival Tomac for second on the opening lap, but the Kawasaki rider responded a short time later to reclaim the position.

Tomac quickly applied pressure on Baggett for the lead, and he took over the top spot on lap two. Dungey didn’t waste any time following through and moved into second not long after.

The championship’s top two riders were separated by less than a second for several laps until Dungey bobbled in the whoops, allowing Tomac to pull out to an advantage of a couple of seconds.

The leaders opened a large gap over Baggett, in third, at the halfway point of the main event, leaving the KTM rider to fend off Team Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin for the final podium spot.

On lap 11, Baggett crashed out of third, handing the spot to Musquin before remounting in fourth. The Frenchman then set his sights on his teammate in second, inching closer lap by lap. Soon the KTM duo was separated by mere bikelengths, which allowed Musquin to apply pressure on Dungey. They battled over the course of a couple laps before Musquin successfully made the pass on lap 19.

Tomac went unchallenged over the final portion of the main event and crossed the finish line 5.8 seconds ahead of Musquin for his ninth career win. He became just the fourth different winner in nine races inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Dungey followed in a distant third, ending a three-year reign in Indianapolis.

“This [season] is everything you could ever dream of, other than winning the championship,” said Tomac. “Right now we’re winning races, so it’s pretty cool. I don’t know what to say – we’re rolling right now! This is good for us. We’re doing what we need to do, but we’ve got to keep doing it.”

Tomac closed his deficit to Dungey in the 450SX-class standings to just 12 points with six races remaining. Musquin moved into a tie with Team Honda HRC’s Cole Seely for third, 49 points behind Dungey.

After challenging for the lead early, Ryan Dungey dropped to third.

“It was a little rough for us today; it’s just how it goes, and I can’t really explain why other times are harder than not,” said Dungey, who secured his ninth podium finish of the season. “We did our best tonight. In the main event, we had the inside gate, and I was able to get out good and be right up front with [the leaders]. I was able to put pressure on Eli for a bit, and then I just fell off the pace. It’s plain and simple. I gave it my all.”

Zach Osborne (16) added to his points lead with his third win in four races.

The Eastern Regional 250SX-class main event saw Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy grab the SupercrossLive.com Holeshot, over Zach Osborne and RMATV/ MC-WPS-KTM’s Dakota Alix. Both Savatgy and Osborne were able to assert themselves out front, but Alix dropped a couple of positions to the Troy Lee Designs/ Red Bull/ KTM duo of Alex Martin and Jordon Smith.

Just six points separated Savatgy and Osborne atop the Eastern Regional standings entering the night, and the lead duo sat mere bikelengths apart throughout the early portion of the main event, while both Martin and Smith kept them within sight.

After showing his wheel to Savatgy on the inside of several corners over the course of a handful of laps, Osborne pulled the trigger on lap nine coming out of the whoops and dived inside Savatgy, making contact and moving into the lead. From there, he was able to open up a gap of more than a second as the leaders approached lapped riders.

Behind the top two, Martin and Smith continued their battle for third, pacing each other throughout the race. On lap 11, Martin lost control of his KTM entering a corner and was launched off the bike, forcing Smith to stop and make his way around the downed motorcycle. Smith lost valuable time to the leaders but took over third, while Martin remounted his bike in fourth.

Osborne was able to maintain his advantage over Savatgy throughout the remainder of the race and opened up an even larger gap on the final lap, taking the checkered flag 2.2 seconds ahead of Savatgy, who recorded his second straight runner-up finish. Smith followed in third.

Joey Savatgy (17) fended off Zach Osborne (16) for half of the main event but eventually had to settle for second.

“I felt like half the track Joey was way better than me, and on the other half I had a little advantage; we were tit for tat,” said Osborne, who has won all three main events this season by passing for the lead. “Even after I passed [Joey], he was right there the whole time. It was a great race! I wasn’t able to hit [all the obstacles] in the fastest way, so I had to bide my time [before making the pass].”

The win allowed Osborne to pull out to a nine-point lead over Savatgy, while Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit/ Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo sits in third, 18 points out of the lead, following a fifth-place finish.

The 2017 Monster Energy Supercross season will continue next Saturday, March 25, with the 12th round of the championship inside Detroit’s Ford Field. Live broadcast coverage can be seen on FS1 beginning at 4 p.m. PT/ 7 p.m. ET.

For more information on the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, please log on to www.SupercrossLIVE.com, the official website of Monster Energy Supercross.